Last Word

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BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Factual: Life Stories

Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently

BBC Radio 4 LW

Last Word: Margaret Keane, Keith Smith, Mario Fiorentini, Brenda Fisher

Margaret Keane, Keith Smith, Mario Fiorentini, Brenda Fisher

BBC Radio 4 - Last Word, Margaret Keane, Keith Smith, Mario Fiorentini, Brenda Fisher

Matthew Bannister on an artist, an entrepreneur, a partisan and a swimmer.

Matthew Bannister on artist Margaret Keane, entrepreneur Keith Smith, partisan Mario Fiorentini and swimmer Brenda Fisher.

Matthew Bannister on

Margaret Keane (pictured), the American artist whose paintings of children with 'Big Eyes' became hugely popular in the 1960s. Her identity as the painter was kept secret by her husband who claimed the works as his own.

Keith Smith, the market trader who co-founded the Poundland chain of shops.

Mario Fiorentini, Italy’s most decorated partisan, who risked torture and death to fight the German occupation of his country. 

Brenda Fisher, the long distance swimmer from Grimsby who became an international celebrity after breaking the women’s speed record for swimming the English Channel. 


Producer: Emily Finch

Interviewed guest: Larry Karaszewski
Interviewed guest: Steve Smith
Interviewed guest: Philip Cooke
Interviewed guest: Alessandro Portelli
Interviewed guest: Lucy Wood
Interviewed guest: Peter Winchester MBE

Archive clips used: Westinghouse Broadcasting Company / Mike Douglas Entertainments, The Mike Douglas Show - Interview with Margaret Keane 1972; BBC World Service, Outlook - Margaret Keane interview 30/12/2014; Duane Anderly, 1964 Lost Interview with Walter and Margaret Keane from YouTube; The Weinstein Company / Silverwood Films / Tim Burton Productions, Big Eyes (film clip) 2014; Express & Star YouTube Channel, Founder of Poundland, Keith Smith opens his grounds up for a festival 25/06/2015; BBC One, Antiques Roadshow: Series 41 - Pioneering Women Special 10/06/2018; BBC Sound Archive, Swim The Channel 17/08/1951.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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Last Word

Margaret Keane, Keith Smith, Mario Fiorentini, Brenda Fisher

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